Today is the first day in almost three weeks I’ve had nothing pre-scheduled in my diary.
Well, that’s not entirely true.
I skyped my friend this morning (we’d booked that in a while ago) and I have a webinar I’m attending tonight.
But the day – spacious.
Usually it’s how I most like things. And I do my best to keep my diary looking clear, or at least “chunky clear”.
For me, when I know there’s space in my diary I feel more calm. More creative. More able to follow what feels good.
I’m someone who needs a lot of grounding. It’s what I call that feeling of being calm and connected in with yourself. That feeling of steadiness and like you can handle things with more resilience.
Grounding is also me feeling alive. Creative. In flow with my life.
And, I need a lot of it.
There’s lots of different ways I create more grounding in my life, from the big things (make sure I’ve scheduled in holidays throughout the year) to the small things (sit with a cup of tea at the end of the night).
And when routines get a little out of whack – like they have for so many people globally right now – our grounding gets a little out of whack too.
For me, that’s meant an overly full schedule for almost three weeks now. And the crazy part is that most of the things in my schedule have been completely welcomed.
Things I love doing. People I love talking to. Projects I love working on.
Yet there’s been this overlaying energy of go-go-go and it almost got me sucked back in again.
I could feel my body tensing up and my old way of “busy” gripping at me.
I feel it in my chest at the end of the day (like I’ve forgotten to breathe). Or in the back of my throat. Or in pure emotional exhaustion.
I knew that’s not the place I wanted to be. So I reeled it back. Re-prioritised. Things like lunchtime yoga and crystal sound bath meditations became a *must* not just a nice to have.
And, I cleared my diary. Or, more accurately, I reshuffled and reprioritised it. I made sure that for at least one day this week I had no appointments whatsoever.
So that I could wake up and go with the flow.
So that I could still “get stuff done” but without the distraction of blocks of time taken up in my diary.
I thought about writing a big long post for you about all the different ways I’m staying sane (aka grounded) right now. But I realised the one thing that could really make the biggest difference for you is to clear some space.
I can’t say exactly what that looks like for you right now. You could have a one bedroom apartment you’re sharing with your boyfriend, sister and three cats.
You could have emergency projects you’re dealing with at work and late nights going on.
And you could have the kind of “commitments” in your diary that simple can’t budge.
And all of that’s okay.
Because clearing some space could still be the most important thing you do for yourself this week. And it doesn’t have to look the same as my version.
It could look like three extra minutes to drink your morning cup of coffee. Or three long deep slow breaths before you turn your laptop on to start your day. Or saying no to another video call today because you already did five and well, you’re just not up to it.
Do whatever you can to clear space for you. I know that’s what’s kept me sane previously and I certainly know it’s what’s keeping me sane right now too.
First published on www.thedaisypatch.co.uk/blog.